The Pilgrim nuclear plant’s closure has refocused attention on several proposals to boost New England’s electrical transmission and generation capacity. Pilgrim supplies an average of about 5 percent of the region’s energy, and about 84 percent of the state’s noncarbon emitting energy. Pipeline developers, including Massachusetts’s biggest utilities, have proposed new infrastructure to bring in fuel for gas-burning power plants. And several companies have proposed high-capacity transmission projects that could bring hydropower and wind power from Canada and Maine to central New England.
PIPELINES
Access Northeast
Proposed cost: $3 billion
Size of project: 1 billion cubic feet/day
Location: existing pipeline corridors in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts
Projected completion date: Late 2018
Status: Backers Spectra Energy Corp. of Houston, National Grid, and Eversource Energy say this project could fuel 5,000 megawatts of gas-powered generation. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities said earlier this month that electric ratepayers can be forced to shoulder the cost of building a pipeline, but that finding has been disputed by other stakeholders.
Algonquin Incremental Market and Atlantic Bridge
Proposed cost: $1.5 billion
Size of project: About 500 million cubic feet/day
Location: existing pipeline corridors between New Jersey and eastern Canada
Projected completion date: late 2016 (AIM), late 2017 (Atlantic Bridge)
Status: The Algonquin Incremental Market project is under construction, while the Atlantic Bridge project has not been approved by regulators. Unlike Access Northeast, these pipeline expansion projects aren’t explicitly meant to satisfy the demands of gas-burning electricity generators, although local gas distributors could end up selling some of the gas they ship through the pipelines to power plants.
Northeast Energy Direct
Proposed cost: $5 billion
Size of project: Up to 1.3 billion cubic feet/day
Location: Mostly existing utility corridors but some new construction in upstate New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire
Projected completion date: late 2018
Status: Developer Kinder Morgan Inc. has proposed bringing as much as 1.3 billion cubic feet of gas per day to Dracut. It also wants to sell pipeline capacity to electric power generators. The project has stoked fierce opposition west of Boston.
WIRES
New England Clean Power Link
Proposed cost: $1.2 billion
Size of project: 1,000 megawatts
Location: Under Lake Champlain
Projected completion date: mid 2019
Status: Proposed by TDI-New England, this project would bury a 154-mile cable under Lake Champlain that could connect Canadian hydropower to the New England electrical grid. It cleared a significant barrier in June when the Conservation Law Foundation agreed not to block the project after TDI said it would dedicate $284 million to cleaning up the lake and promoting renewable energy.
Northern Pass
Proposed cost: $1.4 billion
Size of project: 1,000 megawatts
Location: Pittsburg, N.H. to Deerfield, N.H.
Projected completion date: 2019
Status: developer Eversource Energy has run into environmental opposition. After a government report said the power lines would have a negative impact on the scenic White Mountains, Eversource unveiled a new version that would entail burying much more cable.
Northeast Energy Link
Proposed cost: $2 billion
Size of project: 1,100 megawatts
Location: Orrington, Maine, to Tewksbury
Projected completion date: Not available
Status: This project, backed by Emera Maine and National Grid, is meant to transmit hydro and wind power, according to the developers. A National Grid spokeswoman said the company is waiting for Massachusetts lawmakers to move forward on energy legislation and does not have a customer lined up.
Vermont Green Line
Proposed cost: $600 million
Size of project: 400-800 megawatts
Location: Under Lake Champlain
Projected completion date: 2019 or 2020
Status: Anbaric Transmission and National Grid have proposed two projects that bear the name “Green Line,” one in Vermont and another in Maine with a total transmission capacity of 1,400 to 2,800 megawatts. The Vermont project will carry 400 to 800 megawatts and the developers plan to apply for environmental permits next spring.
Maine Green Line
Proposed cost: $1.5 billion
Size of project: 1,000-2,000 megawatts
Location: Under the Atlantic Ocean
Projected completion date: 2021
Status: The Maine Green Line, the sister project of the Vermont Green Line, will carry 1,000 to 2,000 megawatts. Permitting work hasn’t begun, the developers said, but National Grid said the project was at the same stage as the Northeast Energy Link.
Maine Power Express
Proposed cost: $2 billion
Size of project: 1,000 megawatts
Location: Northern Maine to Boston Harbor
Projected completion date: 2020
Status: Loring Holdings LLC, Natural Resources Energy LLC, and Transmission Developers Inc. are backing this project, which would ship wind, solar, and hydropower. Like most other transmission projects, it has not completed its environmental reviews, but has completed its route survey and is conducting a system impact study, according to Hayes Gahagan, a managing member of the development partnership.
The story was updated Wednesday to correct the location of the Access Northeast pipeline, the size of the Northeast Energy Direct project, and the location of the Maine Green Line.
Jack Newsham can be reached at jack.newsham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheNewsHam.Correction: Figures for the Northeast Energy Direct project were incorrect in an earlier version of this article.